Ep. 50: Born in Canada, Rae Dawn Chong is a multiracial (Black, Chinese, Irish, and Native American) actress who’s had a fantastic career and fascinating life. She’s been in such notable movies as The Color Purple, Quest for Fire, American Flyers, and Commando.
She’s also had interesting experiences as the daughter of musician/comedian, Tommy Chong, spending her childhood in Detroit and Los Angeles, getting to meet musical giants like Bobby Taylor, the Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, and many, many others, and experiencing the Detroit riots of 1968.
Listen as Rae chats with Alex about her upbringing, her love of music and acting, her acting career, and on the very real impact that race and discrimination still play in the world of entertainment. Her take on the multiracial experience and on race and racism in the world of film is intriguing and thought-provoking and not to be missed.
For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic
To subscribe to the Multiracial Family Man, please click here: MULTIRACIAL FAMILY MAN PODCAST
Intro and Outro Music is Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons – By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
One Comment on “Rae Dawn Chong on growing up multiracial, on race & racism in the world of entertainment, and on exploring spirituality, Ep. 50”
Short comment. I have watched many Youtube video of Multiracial kids difficulties in fitting in. Cant understan why such obsessions. Listening to RDC , it seems she didnt have problems with racial identity or fitting in when growing up.
This is because she was brought up in an environment full of LOVE and Compassion. Racial identity was not essential in that brought up. What was important to a young RDC was that she had a loving and accepting grand mother and grand father. She also grew up with parents who were and still is unconventional. Being an artist , he moved amongst people of many shades. Her environment was very mixed and she didnt see her position in that environment any different or she was treated differently.
She only encountered problems with her racial identity when she came to the States as a adult and because she did not have the emotional baggage in the 1st place she was able to transcend all of that. People who could not transcend race internally are unable to accept people who could play multiple ethnic roles.
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